| SolveYourProblem
Article Series: Motivation
What Will It Take To Motivate Me?
Take
Little Motivational Steps:
Turn Hopelessness Around
How
can you use little motivational steps to turn around hopelessness? First let’s look at what causes
us to fall into hopelessness. We have our goal but it looks
so huge! Lose 50 pounds in three months, save $10,000 in one
year or turn your relationship with your teenager around. They
are large goals, lofty and worthwhile, but huge steps, which
need a tremendous amount of commitment.
Let’s
look at the problem of weight loss. Spring is on its
way and I intend to be able to wear the clothes I wore last
year. That means I need to lose X amount of weight and couple
that with a doable exercise program for me. I hate to exercise;
there, I’ve said it. I don’t have the time or the inclination
to go to an aerobics class, gym, or health club. I haven’t
found any motivation that has made me change my mind. So, instead
of following into hopelessness or despair, how can I turn that
around? Here are some tips to help you take little steps towards
your goal and turning hopelessness around.
Remember to make small goals that you can reasonably expect
to reach. Weight loss experts recommend setting a goal of losing
1-2 pounds a week. This is healthier for your body and helps
you create a timeline for losing the weight you are hoping
to lose. Let’s say you have three months to that long awaited
cruise. That gives you 12 weeks to alter your eating habits
and start an exercise program. You can start out with a simple
walk around the block and cutting out the sweets in your diet.
Don’t be discouraged if you miss a day of walking, or you cave
in and have that favorite dessert when you go out to eat. Give
yourself some room to make mistakes. That’s why it’s more sensible
to plan to lose 1-2 pounds a week, than a large goal that looks
impossible to reach. Setting a goal of eight pounds in a month
just looks and feels more practical and it is!
Saving
money is a big goal whether you’re saving for retirement
or to send your children to college. Maybe you’re saving for
a special vacation or to celebrate a special anniversary in
a big way. The important fact to remember is savings can start
with the first quarter you put in a jar. You don’t have to
open a CD or start a savings account with a huge amount of
money. Start small; put all of your change in a jar at the
end of the day. By doing this, my husband and I have always
had a tidy sum to spend on our annual vacation. One year, we
were unable to go on vacation so we used our coins as a Christmas
fund. We started small and have now learned to discipline our
habits to put a certain amount of money into a savings account
at the bank. This is our emergency fund, and it has come in
handy a few times.
Here’s a big goal. Turning
around a relationship with a family
member, teenager, or spouse. More than likely, this relationship
has suffered for a longtime. You know that it will be an enormous
task to turn it back into a positive relationship. It can look
hopeless, but it doesn’t have to be. Small steps that are obtainable
will keep you from falling into total despair and giving up
on the relationship. You can’t reasonably expect to say one
day “I’m going to have a new open relationship with my teenager”
when you haven’t been communicating with each other at all.
Start with a small step, like listening to their ideas or thoughts.
Listen! Think before you speak and control your emotions. My
son had the annoying habit of lowering his voice the longer
I talked to him, the result was, I was shouting by the end
of the conversation. He would then look at me and ask, “Mom
why are you yelling at me?” Bingo, he had pushed the right
button and he knew it. When I learned to keep my voice even
and not raise the volume, we were able to communicate in a
more meaningful way. Small steps can lead to larger ones. If
your teenage daughter is wearing clothes that you think are
inappropriate, it’s going to do you no good to constantly nag
at her. Positive reinforcement can start out small changes.
You can compliment her on her hair and how nice it looks that
day, or if she is wearing a nicer outfit than usual, use that
as an opportunity to praise and give positive reinforcement.
Be sincere! A teenager or anyone else who is on the defensive
can always detect false statements. I taught my kindergarten
Sunday school class this: If you can’t say something nice,
don’t say anything at all. I think that is true for many of
our relationship situations.
So, don’t be discouraged, just look at smaller pieces of the
big picture. It will eventually come together and your goals
can be reached.
# # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
> Home > Motivation
Articles : Main Page
Related
Channels:
|
